Human development: people at the centre

For a long time, a country's development was measured only by its economic growth: the bigger its economy, the more 'developed' it was. But many countries grew richer while most of their people stayed poor. So economists began to put people at the centre.

Mahbub-ul-Haq, a Pakistani economist, described development as enlarging people's choices and improving their lives. In 1990 he created the Human Development Index (HDI), and the UNDP has published a Human Development Report every year since then.

The Indian economist Amartya Sen saw increasing freedom (or reducing unfreedom) as the main objective of development.

Freedom here does not mean not being locked up; it means being able to choose. Picture a bright girl taken out of school after Class 8 and married early. At 23 she may dream of becoming a doctor, and nobody stops her, yet she cannot: her education ended too soon. Her choices were closed long ago. Building capabilities (health, education) is what keeps choices open.

What is a meaningful life? Not just a long one. It must be healthy, have some purpose, let people develop their talents, take part in society, and be free to achieve their goals.

So the key areas of human development are:

• a long and healthy life;
• education (the ability to gain knowledge);
• access to resources for a decent standard of living.

Many people lack even these basic choices. The reasons include lack of capability (education, health) and lack of access: poverty, social discrimination, and unequal institutions.